McAfee patents piracy prevention plug-in to stop torrent downloads

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The security brains at McAfee have come up with a brilliant new way to keep the average computer user from getting into trouble online. They’ve patented a system that can identify pirated content on websites and prevent a user from downloading it.

Yes, soon McAfee’s SiteAdvisor plug-in could be helping to ensure that geriatrics and youngsters alike never accidentally click a .magnet link to last week’s episode of The Simpsons. Think of all the nasty cease-and-desist notices and six-strike consequences this could prevent! Oh, and malware. It might help these people avoid the odd infection, too, because some torrents include software that’s been Trojanized.

But perhaps more importantly, think about how much cash groups like the MPAA and RIAA will be willing to front McAfee to get this patented mechanism up and running.

There’s certainly a PR case to be made that McAfee’s pirate link blocker offers some security value to consumers. Mr. and Mrs. Smith may genuinely be terrified that little Billy will stray down the pirate path and torrent a few dozen songs, find himself on the wrong end of a lawsuit, and end up getting slapped with a multi-thousand-dollar fine for digital mixtape-swapping.

Still, it’s copyright groups that stand to reap the real benefits. McAfee remains one of the most widely-used pieces of security software around. On top of that, it’s still pre-installed on loads of retail Windows PCs — and you can bet that this “dangerous download blocker” will be turned on by default once it’s ready.

It’s so gosh darn hard for the MPAA and RIAA to make any real progress with folks like Google, who keep serving up links to links to torrents (not actual torrents, mind). And it’s hard to shut down sites like The Pirate Bay who just keep moving domains to avoid being shut down (hello, Iceland).

But if big-name software vendors are willing to listen — and they will be, if the MPAA and RIAA grease the right palms — then it won’t matter if takedown requests aren’t successful. Your browser will simply not be allowed to let you download whatever is deemed “infringing content,” and you can thank the folks at McAfee for getting that ball rolling! [Image credit: minor9th on Flickr]